With Christmas fast approaching, men across the UK are set to receive their annual present of novelty boxers, however research released today by Bullring shows that 13% of Birmingham men confess to returning underwear bought for them and 1 in 3 leave them in the wardrobe unworn to gather dust. The reason for this negative reception appears to be family and friends buying the men in their lives the wrong style of underwear, with findings showing that boxer briefs are the most popular pants style, whereas the risqué thong is a favourite for the brave few.

Whilst other halves are often the ones to put underwear in men's Christmas stocking (75%), more than a third (36%) of Brummie males admitted to being left blushing after receiving pants from their parents on Christmas Day.

Birmingham males' preferred underwear style:

1.     Boxer briefs (52%)

2.     Trunks (18%)

3.     Novelty pants (15%)

4.     Y Fronts (8%)

5.     Thongs (7%)

Despite the thong not proving to be the most popular choice for the West Midlands, it seems that some parts of the country are more partial to this underwear choice, most notably in the North East, with 21% of men opting for a thong over Y-Fronts or trunks

The research was conducted by Bullring to encourage shoppers to buy the right presents for their loved ones this Christmas and avoid unwanted and unused gifts.

Teaming up with Capital Radio breakfast presenter Rob Howard, Bullring used real-life male mannequins stationed throughout LinkStreet to showcase the breadth of products available for men and to ensure that friends and family were able to choose an item based on how it looked in real life.

Rob Howard said: "Without fail, there is always a pair of pants for me under the Christmas tree, whether it's from a friend, a member of my family or even a colleague! More than half of Brummie men said they have returned the pants bought for them because they were the wrong style, so it's really key to get it right to avoid disappointed faces on December 25th."

Maggie Foggett, Marketing Manager at Bullring said: " We always see a spike in sales of men's pants over the festive period – but it is clear that these gifts are not what they would choose themselves – with so many being returned or left unworn."

"We wanted to ensure that people receive their preferred style of pants this Christmas. Our research shows that, whilst novelty pants may cause a giggle around the tree on Christmas Day, they're unlikely to get much wear the rest of the year! With so many great retailers here at LinkStreet and throughout Bullring all selling a range of styles, we have a selection of pants to fit the taste of all our shoppers."

For more inspiration and to see how our shoppers reacted to our real life male mannequins, visit https://youtu.be/Hhrf6L9MfRM.

Bullring, which houses stores and restaurants such as Selfridges, Michael Kors, Victoria’s Secret, Cereal Killer Café and Bill’s, will be open until 10pm on weekdays from Monday 29th November. For more information, please visit www.bullring.co.uk.